The Madhya Pradesh High Court has on its own taken cognisance of the deaths of two newborn girls following rat bites at the Maharaja Yeshwantrao Hospital here, terming it an apparent case of "gross negligence", and issued notices to authorities.
Referring to newspaper reports, the court on Wednesday said it needed to take up the matter 'suo motu' (on its own) as a Public Interest Litigation, and scheduled a hearing for September 15.
On the intervening night of August 31 and September 1, two infants admitted to the ICU of the government-run hospital were bitten by rats and later died, said a division bench of Justices Vivek Rusia and Jai Kumar Pillai.
"Prima facie, it appears to be a gross negligence on the part of the administration of the hospital," it said, issuing notices to the principal secretary of the Madhya Pradesh public health and family welfare department, dean of the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College which is attached to the hospital, Indore divisional commissioner, district collector and the city police commissioner.
The additional advocate general shall submit their replies along with copies of the post-mortem reports, the high court said, while appointing senior advocate Piyush Mathur as an amicus curiae to assist the judges.
One of the infants was from Dewas district and the other from Dhar district.
The hospital administration denied that the deaths were due to rat bites. The two girls succumbed to congenital deformities and pre-existing critical conditions, it said, even as it took disciplinary action including suspension and removal against eight officials.
Meanwhile, hospital superintendent Dr Ashok Yadav proceeded on 15 days' leave from Thursday, citing "serious health reasons".
Families of the deceased infants and social organisations expressed dissatisfaction over the absence of strong action against the dean of the medical college and hospital superintendent.
The girls' parents had alleged earlier that the hospital initially kept them in the dark about the deaths, and also misled them about the cause.
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